Cycle News

Daytona Alligator Enduro A couple of burned checks in loop two dropped G eorge Waller to third overa ll. Du ane Conner brushes pine tree limbs while passing a slower rid er. J oey H opkins only dropped a single point to win his second Alligator Enduro. Hopkins hauls to Alligator Enduro win By Donn Maeda "I 34 DAYTONABEACH, FL, MAR. 5 t' s really so me th i ~g to be abl e 10 say that yo u ve won th e Alli gator Enduro: ' said South Ca ro lin ia n Joey H opkins after scoring th e h igh-point win a t th e Dayton a Dirt Riders' 42nd ed ition o f the fam ous event. " Now I ca n say th at I've won two , thi s is grea t." Whi le most of hi s closest riva ls finished wi th sco res of th ree a nd fo u r. Hopkins dropped o n ly a sing le point as he nego tia ted th e trees. sa nd a nd pa lmetto roots th at lined the two loop , liS��mil e co urse. Thi s yea r. th e event sna ked throu gh th e p lant ed pi ne forests o n la nd owne d by th e Georgia Pacifi c Corpora tio n . rather tha n th ro ugh th e swa m p la nd near Davrona Int ernati onal Racewa v as it ha ; in past yea rs. Approxim a tel y 455 co m p e t i to r s bl a st ed throu gh th e co urs e that took o ver thr ee hours to com p lete. T h in gs went well for Kaw as aki Tea m Gr een /MS R / Shoei /S co l l/ Acer bis/ Ai ken Mot or cycles/M etz ler / ICO /Sproc ke t Speci a Iis ts / F i ni sh Lin e/Fa ctory Co n ne c t io n /E nd u ro Engineering-backed H o p kins ri gh t from the sta rt . The 29-vear-o ld rider rod e th e ent ire first loo p' pe rfectl y a nd began loo p two wi th a sco re of zero . "T he first loop went reall y good: there was o ne sectio n th at was kin d of tigh t. bu t it was n ' t th at bad : ' said H opkins. "T here were a lot of pa lmerto s o u t there th at kept you o n you r toes. but I was pr ett y mu ch able 10 rail everything ." It wasn 't until th e second chec k o f loo p two th at Ho p kins faltered and dropped hi s o nly point by a rr iving lat e. " No th ing rea lly gav e me any trouble, I was j ust a litt le la te," he said. " I j ust tried to co nce n trate and do everyth ing wel l. I'm reall y ha p p y to hav e wo n th is, everybody who's a ny body co mes to this end uro." A la rge num ber of ride rs fini sh ed the co n test with thr ee po ints, a nd tieb reak ers were needed to determine th eir fi n ish ing positi ons. Certa in checks were tim ed to th e seco nd in case o f such a situa tion. Co rni ng o u t on to p o f th e tie was KTM 's Alan G rav itt , wh o was awarded fir st overa ll in the AA class , G ra vitt dropped hi s three points early in th e event when a poorl y-m ark ed sectio n caused him a nd ma nv ot her riders 10 beco me lost near th e second chec k. " I was goi ng good, but 1 lo st a lot o f time look in g for th e tra il after I go t lo st," said Grav itt . " It was a good trai l, though , 1 liked it bett er th e last year's." George Wa ller ma naged to stay o n th e co urse but dropped three points by burni ng a co u ple o f chec ks in the second loop. " T he first loop was rea lly basi c, but loop two got a lot more techni cal ," sai d Wa ller. " I feel th at I rod e wel l, thou gh ." Kevin H ines pi lot ed h is factorybac ked H usq va rna WX R 3 .~ O fo urstroke 10 a th ird-pl ace finish , a nd was qui ll' ple ased wi th his performance. " I' m still lea rn ing how to ride a four-stroke," said Hines, who last year co mpeted o n a factory Su zuki RMX250 two -stro ke. "The ridi ng technique is a lot diff erent. On a two-strok e you wh eeli e o ver stu ff, hut o n a four-stroke you just plow right th ro ug h it. 1 like tha t." H ines drop ped a single poi nt o n loo p o ne. a nd a no the r two at th e fina l check. " I don 't know how I dropped those last two points, I do n 't th in k I was ea rly. " said Hines. " I felt good and had fun, th at 's wh at counts. I think this is m y IOth year competing in this. I always just come here wit h a fun a tt i tude. It 's become a trad iti onal thi ng ." Team KTM 's J eff Russell had a rather un eventful rid e and fini shed fourth, a lso dro ppin g three po ints. " I go t o ff-trac k o n th e fir st loop, but it was n' t a ny thing maj or: ' sai d Ru ssell. " T here were a lot o f tree stu mps hidden in th e grass, so you had to be reall y careful." Fifth p lace finish er Larry Roeseler found a few o f th e stu m ps th at Russell spoke of. "I hit a stu mp ri gh t before th e third check, a nd l think] mi ght have brok en a toe or so me th ing: ' sa id th e Reliability End u ro Na tion al Ch ampi on

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